The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-02-09


ark was the window Of the ark. No peace
out Of God. No hope, no comfort, no solace
have tried the solace Of this world. 1t i:
most insufficient. Oh. the infinite quackery
of this worlds comfort. 1t cannot help an
immortal spirit.
Substantial comfort will not grow
| In Natures barren soil
All we eau boast till Christ we know,
Is vanity and toll.
But where the Lord has planted grace,
And made His glories known,
The fruits of Heavenly peace are found.
And there alone"
The world has tried to comfort you You
lost parent. A friend cane in and said:
that your father should expire" Any COM
fort in that! None. You lost your little
child. Somebody came in and said: "Well,
perhaps if the child had lived it might have
turned out badly" Any hope, any comfort
in that! None at all. You lost your prop.
eerty.,, A friend came in and said:
very uncertain" You knew that before.
No comfort 1t is miserable quackery when
the world tries to comfort soul. But here
| Christ comes and he says II took your prop
erty that you might appreciate better the
Heavenly treasures; Il took physical health that
you might better appreciate spiritual health; I
| UOOk yOuT lONeu Ou6S uau d DoLGcE anu
brighter place for them, and I wanted
them at the gate when you come
snrough." So your soul is comfort
/ Ell, and the tears are dried and the
| wounds are healed. The air sometimes gets
very dark with ravens wings, and they Shut
| out all brightness and all comfort, and when
! it is so dark, and the voices Of these ravens
| make the air horrible with their sound, then
Christ comes in to soothe the soul, and He
says: 'The mountains may depart and the
hills be removed, but my loving kindness
will never fail youn Shelter-eyerlastng
shelter-in this dovecot of the Gospel.
But this flock of souls that have come into
the Kingdom of God today, are like doves
to their windows because they fly homo.
ter in one cline summer in another cline.
This year nest in one tree; next year nest
in another tree The golden oriole Of Ger
many stays only three months there and
then it is gone. The linnet Of Norway
flies across the sea to get rid OF the
beak and the goldfinch are all migratory.
they have no home. But the pigeons, the
doves spoken of in the text, they have the
dovecot for the summer and for the winter.
1t is perpetual home like the warm heart Of
Christ, the dovecot Of eternal mercy. Oh,
how many have found the mercy and favor
Of Christ all they needed in all weethers,
bright weather and dark weather, winter
weather and summer weather, spring
weather and autumn weather. A
perpetual and loving Christ. What
does the Psalmist say! "We come un-
der the feathers of the Almigh Our for
tunes may drop ten degrees below zero. The
SHOWS Of trouble may fall around US, the
winds Of persecution may blow against us,
the jackas Of death may stalk forth at US.
Home. safely home, in the heart of God,
rh Nothipo,
throw u.s. The everlasting God is our shell
ter. The Sheriff may sell us out and our
comfortable homes may 60 into the hands Of
strangers; but Christ, our home, is home
forever And yet hear people talking as
though when man became Christian he
put out on trackless moor as though he went
wandering in the sands Of great Sahara
No. LAS doves to the windows"
This great flock OF souls that come into the
Kingdom of God to-day, are like doves to
ehelr windows, because they come in tocks.
The buzzard, with filthy wing, fitting up
from the carrion, is alone. You look into
the sky and once in while you can find a
solitary bird winging by; but the doves
spoken of in the text come in flocks. So
these souls to-day come by scores and hum
dreds 1slS1 whole +Sas osks Of ths% astoi Not
with an army, but a solid column.
Not stray drop on the cheek or the hand
so that you are hardly aware whether it
rains or not; but the rush Of an unmistakable
shower. Not the raking up of few CLEAN
ings, but the full sheaves tossed into the
garner. Gas doves to their windows" Some
Of them are young, you have noticed, and
into the Kingdom of God. Some are
old and their wings have been torn Of
the shot and ruttied of the tempest, |
aud they flew far out at sea, and we thought !
they would never come back again, and sIme !
have dipped their wings in fountains of sin
and death, and some made very crooked
course as they flew along; but they have |
"as doves to their windows" Oh, shall not |
to my dying hour cease to praise God |
for the manifestation Of His grace here to- |
day. Praise Him, sun and moon and stars. |
Praise Him, Church militant on earth. |
Praise Him. Church triumphant in Heaven. |
Let the Church on earth raise its right hand,
and let the Church Of Heaven lower its right |
tion, and then let the elders of the church put |
the wine of celebration to our lips, and let |
the cupbearers Of Heaven bring from the |
vaults Of eternity, the oldest wine prepared !
by Him who trod the winepress alone, and |
let two worlds at once keep jubilee. Oh yes,
I am glad so many Of the young have come.
Before the time of Robert Raikes there was
young. People were allowed to go on in their
Sin, and after O while were brought back,
if they were brought back at all. !
There has been O notion in the church that
people must be allowed to sow their wild
oats and after while they will come back.
have noticed that So out of 100 Of the people
who SOW wild oats never reap any other
CROP they sow to the wind and they
reap the wh1rlwind. The church has
found out that it is easier to keep a train on
the track than to get it on the track when
once it is OF the track. The experienced
reinsmau checks the fiery steed at the first
jump, for he knows that if it get under full
swing and it's hoof strike fire and it take the
bit in its teeth, the momentum is IRE
s:stible. And so we rejoice at the coming Of
the young. Oh, that Christ to-day would
take all these f'.wers Of youth and make
them into a garland for His own blessed
brow. In the heaviest snowstorm that
ever saw, went to see dying girl in my
parish Her cheek on the pillow was as
white as the snow on the easement.
Loved ones stood around the couch. They
could not give her up. They seemed to be
trying to hold her back in this world.
Father could not give her up. Mother could
not give her up; and one nearer and dearer
than father or mother was frantic with grief
as he stood there. I said "Fannie, how do
you feel to-dayr She said: "Mr. Tatmage,
feel happy. I feel very happy. wish
you would tell all the young folks next
Sunday that religion will make them
happy" As left the room, above the sob
bing and the waiiny of grief was heard-l
heard-the calm, Gear, resonant voice Of that
lying girl, as she said to me: GOOD night;